Void's Embrace
by Biskitz
Summary: Having been abandoned by Igneel, Natsu was all alone in the world. At least until he was taken in by the dark guild Void's Embrace. Under their guidance, he became the infamous Salamander, the strongest member of his guild. How will his life change when he runs into a certain red-headed knight from Fairy Tail though?
1. Salamander

**Salamander**

* * *

Salamander.

A dark wizard from the guild Void's Embrace. One of Fiore's most infamous wizards. Labeled as the most wanted wizard by the Magic Council due to to his destructive tendencies. More than one village had been found burnt to cinders in his wake.

Salamander was a wizard who parents invoked when their kids would misbehave. "You better listen to me, otherwise Salamander will come get you in the night," they would say. Then the kids would shiver in fear and obey unquestioningly.

The salamander in question was currently walking the streets of Hargeon in broad daylight. He was just another traveler, albeit one who stood out, what with his bright pink hair and piercing black eyes. His clothing didn't lend him to discretion either. He wore a sleeveless, gold trimmed, black waistcoat, and a patterned white scarf was wrapped snugly around his neck.

Really it was fortunate that nobody in Hargeon knew of Natsu Dragneel's true identity. Otherwise, he would have no other option than to kill them.

Salamander didn't necessarily enjoy killing them, but it was one of the reasons that he had managed to maintain his anonymity despite being Fiore's most wanted. No one he faced on the battlefield lived to tell the tale - unless he let them, of course. Usually, his magic was enough to bully people into being quiet.

The other reason was that despite oozing confidence and arrogance, nothing in Natsu's aura gave off an evil vibe. While he might have rather condescending towards others, in the eyes of those he had spoken with so far, he was a rather friendly character.

* * *

Despite the smile that was plastered on his face, Natsu was angry. He had had to endure pure agony - a several hour train ride to the port city of Hargeon. Though it embarrassed him to no end, he had the most severe motion sickness of anyone he knew. Master had told him to be discrete, thus bringing Happy was out of the question.

Thus, when the train had finally pulled into the station, he had stumbled out of the carriage, and fallen to his knees. The solid ground below his feet was a blessing, which he had worshipped, drawing strange gazes from passerbys. One of the station masters had come to investigate the scene.

"E-E-Excuse me sir? Are you feeling alright?"

"Does it look like I'm feeling okay?" Natsu had asked angrily. "Stupid machines from hell," he had mumbled, under his breath. He had spat once on the ground, fighting the urge to vomit, before standing up, and calmly walking towards the exit, much to the surprise of those who had stopped to watch. "It isn't polite to stare you know," he said, adjusting scarf to ensure that the black serpent tattoo that snaked up and around his neck was hidden.

The other people at the station had sheepishly continued on their ways, while the station master was left standing, aghast.

* * *

A shirtless mage was walking down the streets of Hargeon, whistling as he went. He had black hair, dark blue eyes, and a well-toned abdomen. If he was to be honest, he didn't want to be in Hargeon, but he supposed that he might as well make the most of it.

The dark blue emblem on the right side of his chest signified that he was Fairy Tail's Gray Fullbuster. As per his habit, he had ditched his shirt before even boarding the train from Magnolia, though he had fortunately retained his pants.

Gray was here on orders of the guild's master, Makarov. He had been asked by the Magic Council to aid in capturing the dark wizard, Salamander. Underworld rumor was that Salamander was currently in Hargeon, and so Makarov had asked Gray, one of the guild's stronger wizards, to go capture him.

"Bring him back alive. The council insists that they must question him." Those were the exact words that Master Makarov had told Gray, before sending him off.

"Did they say anything about him being harmed?" Gray had asked, a knowing look in his eyes. Master Makarov had simply shaken his head, confirming Gray's beliefs. "Alright, sounds like this job will be fun then."

"Be careful, my child," Makarov had whispered to Gray's receding from as he had left the guild hall. Though Gray may have been one of Fairy Tail's stronger wizards, a likely candidate for the S-class trials that would take place later, Salamander's strength was unknown.

The ice-make mage was so caught up in his own thoughts, that he didn't notice when he rounded a corner and ran smack into someone else, sending the himself sprawling.

"Oh. I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," said Gray, looking up at the stranger he had accidentally bumped into. Gray wasn't too impressed by the man in front of him. Though he was well-muscled, the pink hair and white scarf gave him the look of a comedian. Gray took the hand that the stranger proffered to him, and climbed to his feet.

"Hey don't worry about it, I was distracted too," the man said with a laugh, showing off his overly sharp canines.

"Isn't it sort of weird to be wearing a scarf in the middle of summer?" Gray asked, conversationally.

"Haha, you might be right. It's a memento from an old friend, so I like to keep it close. Anyways, you aren't exactly one to be judging fashion. You're not even wearing a shirt."

"What? Oh damn it." Gray looked down to see that he indeed had lost his shirt somewhere. The man laughed and continued walking on, leaving Gray desperately trying to remember when he'd taken off his shirt.

Gray shook his head to clear his thoughts. He wouldn't let some stupid clothes distract him from his true object, Salamander. Though how he was supposed to find one man in a city of thousands, he had no idea.

Unfortunately, he hadn't realized that he had unwittingly bumped into the very man that he had been tasked with bringing in.

* * *

"What? You mean there's only one magic shop in this whole town?" The seventeen year old girl in the shop could have cried then and there. Lucy was a celestial wizard, and had come to Hargeon hoping to be able to find more Gate Keys to add to her collection.

"Afraid so." The owner was cheerful, despite Lucy's obvious skepticism. "The people around here are more fishing folk than magic folk. I reckon most people in town don't even know how to use magic. I set up this shop to cater to the wizards who happen to be passing through the area."

She sighed, "looks like I came here for nothing then."

"Now don't say that. I have all the latest goods. Like this ColorS Magic," he said, showing her the small rectangular device. "It's the latest hit among all the young girls. Simply spin the dial, and you can change the color of your clothes."

"I know, but I already have one of those." Disappointment was etched into her face. "What I really want are some powerful Gate Keys."

"Gate Keys huh? That's an unusual request..."

"Oh wow, look," Lucy squealed excitedly, "the little dog, the Gate of Canis Minor, Nikora."

"But that's not very powerful you know,' the shopkeeper told her.

"I don't care, I really really, want it." She picked up the box which held the shining silver key. "How much is it?"

"Twenty thousand jewel."

Lucy nearly sweatdropped. "Excuse me, how much is it?" she asked again, pretending as if she hadn't heard the man the first time.

"I said twenty thousand jewel," he replied in an annoyed voice. The shopkeeper knew that being the only magic shop in town, he could charge higher prices, and he would be damned if he didn't drive a hard bargain.

"Oh come on, how much is it really worth?" Lucy jumped onto the counter and began talking in a playful voice. "Surely you can cut me a nice deal, right?" She made sure to accentuate her ample assets, while giving her most winning smile, and batting her lashes. She winked at him.

Moments later, she slammed the door shut as she stalked angrily out of the shop. She stormed past a couple of men who looked at her curiously, another man drawing a cart full of goods, a pink haired man with a white scarf, and a couple exiting a restaurant.

"One thousand. I can't believe he only knocked off a thousand jewels. Stupid old geezer must be blind or something, that trick always works. So much for my feminine wiles," she said with a scowl. "Oh well, at least I got the key."

She was too self-absorbed in the moment to notice a bit of a crowd that was beginning to form.

"...Salamander..."

"Is he here?"

Someone said..."

People were muttering quietly while Lucy walked on obliviously, blind to her surroundings. Until a gaggle of teenage girls rushed past her, nearly knocking her down.

"He's really here."

"Salamander's so dreamy."

"Salamander?!" Lucy exclaimed in confusion. "As in the wizard who uses fire magic you can't even buy in stores? He's in this dead-end town?"

Despite being a dark wizard, Salamander had steadily built up a fanbase. Tales of his destructive exploits had rapidly circulated the land, and as a result, he had captured the heart of many a young girls. I mean it was almost every week that wizarding magazine, Sorcerer Weekly, had a new story about him.

Lucy grinned and began running towards the crowd that she know saw forming. "I gotta meet this guy."

After a moment of struggling she managed to wiggle her way to the front of the crowd. Her jaw dropped, and her heart started to beat faster. In front of her stood a fairly tall mage, with a handsome, rectangular face, sharp, defined features, and captivating black eyes. His blue hair was parted to one side, and he flashed his pearly whites. Above his right brow, was a tattoo of a pair of stylized tongs, which completed his dashing looks.

A dark, high-collared cape stretched down to his knees. It was patterned on this inside with some lighter colors, and fastened just below his neck by an ornate flame. Underneath the cape was a plain white shirt, and maroon, pinstriped pants, and he wore golden bracelets on both his wrists. On one hand were several odd-looking rings.

Lucy felt her heart speed up even more. Her face turned red as he made eye contact with her. She felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest. 'Is this what love feels like,' she thought. 'Maybe it's because he's a celebrity.'

Suddenly, she and the rest of the girls in the crowd had their attention drawn away by someone else shouting, "So you're the famous Salamander, huh?"

A shirtless mage pushed his way forcefully through the crowd, until he was face to face with Salamander. "I kinda expected something more. But either way, I'm here to take you down."

Before anyone had time to react, Salamander was thrown against the wall of a nearby building, and then sliding down into an unceremonious heap on the ground.

"How could you do that?"

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Don't you know that's the famous Salamander?"

Lucy felt her heart break as Salamander got back up, only for him to get slammed against the wall again as the shirtless stranger yelled, "Ice Make: Lance." This time, Salamander stuck to the wall, frozen their by a block of ice.

Hysterical screams resounded as the crowd quickly fled. While the other girls ran, screaming, Lucy simply watched the mage do his work.

"Thank you," she said quietly, after the ice mage turned back around and saw her.

"Huh?" The ice mage merely looked at her in confusion.

"He was using charm spells to hypnotize all the girls, so he could kidnap them. Makes sense that he's a dark wizard seeing as he's using magic that's been banned for a long time."

"Oh don't mention it. Although, I didn't really mean to save you," the shirtless mage told Lucy. "I was just supposed to capture this guy from a magic council."

"That means you're a guild wizard right?" asked Lucy. "WAIT YOU'RE FROM FAIRY TAIL?!" She jumped excitedly when she recognized the blue guild mark on his chest.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, it's only that FAIRY TAIL IS THE MOST AMAZING GUILD IN THE WORLD. It would totally be my dream come true to join them."

"Hmm, what?" he said disinterestedly. Instead of paying attention to Lucy, he was staring at the platoon of guards that was running towards the two of them.

"Hey what's going on over here," the guard's commander asked the two wizards.

"I'm Gray Fullbuster of Fairy Tail. I was sent here on orders to capture the Dark Wizard Salamander. I would appreciate it if you would take him from here." At these words, Gray jerked a thumb towards the man who was still frozen to the building. He had been knocked unconscious, but was slowly coming too.

"WAIT! I swear I'm not Salamander. My name is Bora." He started yelling as he struggled in vain to free himself from the ice that held him captive. "I promise you, I'm not the man you're looking for."

"Isn't Bora the guy who was kicked out of Titan Nose?" It was one of the guards who spoke up.

"You're right. He is," said the captain. "Bora the Prominence, you are hereby under arrest for kidnapping and participating in slave trade." Both Bora and Gray had gone pale as the captain spoke. The guards quickly shattered the ice, and placing Bora in magic cuffs, began to lead him away, leaving a very confused Lucy, and a very distraught Gray.

"I failed."

Lucy looked up at Gray in surprise. "You didn't fail. After all, you captured Bora by yourself."

"You don't understand. I was under explicit orders to bring in Salamander at all costs. I must go back to the guild and accept my defeat." Dejectedly, he turned away from Lucy and started walking in the direction of the train station.

"H-H-Hey. Don't run off like that, wait for me." Gray didn't even spare a glance as Lucy ran to catch up with him. "At least let me thank you for saving me. Lunch is on me"

Gray stopped walking and sighed. He supposed that it wouldn't hurt. Now that he had already failed to bring in his target, it wouldn't kill him to spend a little extra time in the town. And either way, he could use a bite to eat. "If you insist."

A few minutes later, the two wizards were seated comfortably in silence, in a booth in one of the nearby cafes. Lucy had ordered, and was currently sipping on a small cup of chai tea. Gray on the other hand, was busily chomping down on a chocolate croissant. Somewhere along the way he had managed to find a shirt.

Finally, Lucy spoke up, "so you're the famous Gray Fullbuster of Fairy Tail?"

"You could say that."

"In that case, it's an honor to meet you. My name is Lucy. I've always dreamed of joining Fairy Tail."

"Oh really? So you must be a wizard then too."

"Yeah I'm not a regular wizard though. I'm a celestial wizard, so I use gate keys instead."

'Gate keys, huh... how many do you have?"

"Well..." said Lucy, as she rummaged through her bag. "I've got 5 of these silver keys. They aren't that special though, because they can be bought in almost any magic shop. I've got 3 golden keys though." She finally pulled out three shiny golden keys from her bag. "These are known as Zodiac Spirit Keys. There are 12 of them, and they correspond to each of the 12 Zodiac constellations. So far I have Aquarius, Taurus, and Cancer, but I'm trying to collect all of them."

"Oh that's pretty cool. Sounds like you're a powerful wizard yourself then."

"Eheheh." Lucy smiled nervously. "I guess you could say that."

* * *

As the two wizards sat in the restaurant, a certain pink haired wizard passed them by. He was going to go pay a visit to Bora. After all, Natsu couldn't have weak wizards like sullying his name. No. He would show Bora the Prominence what happened to those who tried to steal his identity.

* * *

After finishing off his croissant, Gray wiped his hands on a napkin, stood up, and walked towards the entrance. Lucy looked at his receding figure sadly; she had hoped he would have told her how she could get into Fairy Tail.

Gray was almost through the door when he paused. "Hey, aren't you coming?" he called back to Lucy.

"What?" Although she felt her heartbeat rising, she didn't want to get her hopes up.

"You said you wanted to join Fairy Tail, right. How are you gonna do that if you just keep sitting there?"

"You're going to take me to Fairy Tail?" she asked, still unbelieving.

"Well not if you don't follow me. Come on already. I do still have to report to Master that I failed." He let the door of the restaurant slide closed, and began walking towards the train station.

"ALRIGHT!" Lucy scrambled as she grabbed her purse, nearly dropping her keys. She ran towards the door, quickly shoving some bills into a confused waitress's hands. Gray was already a couple of blocks away, so she had to run to catch him.

"It's not your fault you know," she said, panting to try and catch her breath. "It's not your fault that you didn't catch Salamander."

"How do you figure that?" Gray asked.

"Well, someone must have told you that Salamander was in this town, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose that someone must have told Master, who told me."

"In that case, you couldn't have known that the Salamander here wasn't the real Salamander. If it's anyone's fault, it's the fault of whoever fed you the wrong information."

"When you put it that way, I suppose you're right," Gray said after a moment's hesitation. "All the same, I still need to let Master know that I failed to capture Salamander."

After a moment Lucy spoke up again. "It might be a bit rude of me to ask, but where's your shirt?"

"EHHHH?" Gray looked around wildly in confusion. He had definitely been wearing a shirt when he left the restaurant.

* * *

That evening, a pink haired man walked into the jail where Bora was being held. He calmly walked up to his cell and looked inside. It took Bora more than a few moments to see that there was someone standing in the receding daylight.

"Who are you? You're here to get me out of here right?"

"The answer to the first question is, I'm you. And no, I'm not here to break you out."

"What do you mean you're me?"

"Well Salamander," said Natsu venomously, "you see, I am also sometimes known as Salamander." He calmly held out his palm, which immediately burst into a crisp white flame.

Bora paled visibly at those words, and he backed up to a far corner of his cell. "No, it can't be you. What do you want with me?" His voice was shaking and he had broken out in a nervous sweat. He stared apprehensively at Natsu. The white fire on his hand was tinged with flecks of blue flame. It danced around on his palm, and bright outlined his face. With the setting sun, it gave Natsu an evil, sinister look.

"Well Bora. I rather enjoy being called Salamander. And it rather irks me when someone tries to steal my glory. After all, you haven't set an entire village ablaze just to watch the villagers run about in terror, have you?"

Bora grew even paler. His face was as white as a sheet, and he was visibly trembling. "Y-Y-You're not h-h-here to k-k-k-kill me, are you?"

"Of course not," Natsu said as he let out a laugh. "Why would you think that? I'm not that kind of monster."

"Phew." Bora relaxed slightly.

"When I'm done with you, you'll wish I had killed you though," Natsu said, still smiling. Bora blanched again and looked just about ready to pass out. He began desperately crying out in terror.

"Aww don't scream. It hurts my ears. No guards will be able to hear you anyways." Natsu's tone was sinister, and his voice carried a dangerous edge. "All I need you to do, is look into my eyes."

Slowly, Bora looked up at Natsu. He saw the white fire in his palm, reflected in his eyes. Bora was captivated by the dancing light - he couldn't pull his eyes away from it. Suddenly, he began screaming in pure agony.

Smiling, Natsu left the jail, leaving the poor man convulsing on the ground as he screamed out "SALAMANDER."

* * *

 **AN: Well I just got back into the FT fandom after rewatching the anime. This was an idea I had a while back, and I hope you guys will like it. I've changed up Natsu's powers a tiny bit (I'll explain more later, when it's becomes relevant).**

 **While there are a lot of good canon based stories out there, I feel like a lot of them move too fast/gloss over a lot of details, so I'll try out a slower pace to start with. If you don't like it let me know.**

 **Also, I think this is a good length for a chapter because I should be able to update every 1 or 2 weeks. Again if you don't like it, let me know in the reviews. Depending on the feedback, I might try to speed up production on this story, but at the same time I have some other ideas I want to get started on.**

 **I hope to see you all following/favoriting/reviewing so you can stick around for the ride.**


	2. Light and Dark

**Light and Dark**

* * *

An unknown location

Natsu was glad to be back home. Not that he hadn't enjoyed his outing. But, looking at it retrospectively, he could have done without the train rides. He definitely could have done without the train rides. No matter how fearsome he was in battle, transportation would always bring him to his knees straight away.

Now Natsu glanced up at the unimposing wooden double doors in front of his eyes. A tattered sign reading 'Hot Bird' hung perilously above the doors. Once a bustling and busy bar in the middle of town, the now ramshackle building had been converted into a guild hall.

Natsu stepped inside and made his way purposefully, towards a door in the back of the bar. The bartender, an unassuming old man in his sixties who had been polishing glasses using one hand, glanced up at Natsu as he entered, before resuming his task.

For most clientele, the bar was exactly what it appeared to be, a bar. But for those select members of Void's Embrace, a small door in one of the back rooms was the true entrance to the guild hall. The bartender knew all members by sight, so there was no need for Natsu to provide any sort of identification.

Once upon a time, the bartender himself had been a member of Void's Embrace. That was until an unfortunate ambush by a squadron of the Magic Council's shoulder had left his left hand paralyzed, and caused him to lose the lower half of his right leg. No longer useful as an elite mage, he had instead turned to taking care of the guild hall's facade.

"Master's expecting you," he muttered under his breath as Natsu passed him. There was little love lost between the two men, so Natsu's reply was equally quiet and terse.

"When is he not?"

Natsu passed through the back room, and down a furnished marble staircase leading to the guild hall proper.

Though it was entirely underground, the Void's Embrace guild hall was massive and ornate - a sharp contrast compared to the shabby exterior of the bar.

The first room was a large and circular chamber. Natural light illuminated the entire chamber, though where that light came from, was impossible to discern. In the center of the room was a lavish fountain. The centerpiece was a massive, coiled serpent, which spewed a mysterious dark colored liquid from its mouth.

Beyond the fountain, the path split into three, the left side leading to dormitories, the right leading to an arena where members could train and spar, and the main path leading down to the heart of the guild.

Natsu chose this final path. Though he would undoubtedly stop by the arena later, if only to get in some target practice, his first obligation was to report back to the guild master.

He entered the main building, which was fashioned to look a giant library. These were the archives, where all the guild's knowledge was kept. It was where Natsu had learned what little he had about his own magic.

He bypassed rows upon rows of ancient books and tomes and headed for a staircase that was nestled in the far corner. Ascending to the second floor, he headed back to where the master's office was situated.

Natsu knocked on the door, and after a brief moment's silence, he heard a response. "Come in." The voice was neither inviting nor hostile, but then again, even at the best of times, the master was a far cry from jovial.

"Master." Natsu nodded his head in deference as he greeted the guild's master. No one knew the master's real name, save for his own son.

"Please sit down, Natsu." He didn't even spare a glance as Natsu took a seat. He had known it was Natsu from the moment he had stepped into the guild hall. Even suppressing his aura, the strongest member of Void's Embrace had a very distinctly powerful aura. And the master had a knack for reading people's auras.

"So how was the mission?"

"Mission, huh... Oh. Yeah the mission. I remember now," Natsu said, scratching his head rather absentmindedly. "There was definitely a Salamander there. Although I don't know if I would even call him a Salamander. I doubt he could even breathe fire."

The master let out a sigh. "That's not the mission I meant. You know I asked you to keep your eyes open for any dark artifacts, right?"

"Oh right." Natsu looked sheepish. "I don't remember smelling anything related to Zeref..."

"DO NOT SPEAK HIS NAME." He turned his withering gaze on Natsu.

"Sorry." Natsu refused to be withered under the master's, but he still spoke cautiously. The master was perhaps the one person in the guild who could match Natsu, blow for blow. Their relationship had come to punches once before, and since then, Natsu had always maintained the highest respect for him. Still, he refused to be intimidated or scared.

"Are you positive there was nothing. There have been rumors circulating around the Underworld lately. A certain Lullaby being unearthed." All traces of anger and hostility were gone from the master's voice.

"No. I definitely would have picked up on any odd scents. The only one I picked up was from one of THEIR mages."

"Who?" Director Tantalus was intrigued.

"Fairy Tail." Natsu spat out the name in disgust, as if it were some foul taste in his mouth. "He wore no clothes, and I saw the emblem on his chest, clear as day."

"Hmm. So the little fairies are finally coming out to play now, are they? I think our lives just got a lot more entertaining my boy."

* * *

"Wow, it's so huge."

Both Lucy and Gray had returned to the Fairy Tail guild hall, and the former was currently marveling at its grandeur. Situated in the south part of Magnolia, it was the only building of its kind in the city.

"Are you going to stand here and gawk all day? Or do you actually want to join?" Gray asked with a little laugh.

"Sorry," Lucy said sheepishly. Her jaw had been hanging open, and she quickly clamped it shut. "I-I-I think I'm ready now."

As she stepped through the tall brown double doors, she suddenly felt apprehensive. 'What if no one likes me? What if I have to pass a test to join the guild? I'm not ready for this.' Her worrying was interrupted Gray lightly shoving her inside, causing her to squawk awkwardly.

Inside the hall was a scene of pure chaos. Spells were flying everywhere, chairs and tables overturned, and people fighting in a giant clump.

Amidst the chaos, Lucy was able to make out a few distinct shouts.

"That is so not manly."

"Can't a girl have a drink in peace?"

"How about I keep you two ladies safe."

Lucy had to take a moment to appreciate the cacophony of the brawl. She noticed only two wizards who weren't part of the scuffle.

The first was a tallish wizard with short, jet black hair, which was spiked up wildly. He had a sharp pointed face with onyx black eyes, and was dressed in black jeans a tight black muscle t-shirt. He looked to be about Gray's age, perhaps a year older.

"Glad to see you made it back alive Gray. And you found a girlfriend it seems." Lucy's face reddened slightly as the mystery man spoke.

"Is that a challenge Arima? You know I'll take you on - right here, right now."

"In your dreams Gray. Perhaps if you trained instead of just running your mouth the entire time," Arima said, chuckling lightly. Gray scowled, while Arima turned his gaze towards Lucy. "So what's your name newbie?"

"The name's Lucy," she replied a tad nervously. Something about Arima made Lucy feel a bit uneasy. She hoped it was just the fact that he was clearly a powerful mage. "I'm here to join Fairy Tail."

"Well you're in the right place. Care to help her out Mira?"

At this point the second person not participating in the guild's brawl, the barmaid, turned around to look at Lucy.

"OHMIGOSH ARE YOU REALLY MIRAJANE?" Lucy exclaimed excitedly as she ran to the bar. Arima just rolled his eyes.

"Yes. It's nice to meet you Lucy," Mira said with a cheerful smile. She gave a little twirl for Lucy, who let out a small squeal. "Well, where do you want it?"

"E-e-excuse me?" asked Lucy confusedly.

"Well if you want to join the guild, you'll need the guild's official stamp to mark it. So where would you like it, and in what color?"

"Oh. I'll take it pink, and right here," Lucy said. She held out her right fist, allowing Mira to place a hot pink insignia of the guild's mark.

Lucy spent a few moments observing her new guild mark, before turning her attention back to the brawl that was still ongoing.

"So shouldn't we stop them or something?" she asked.

"Don't worry about it. This happens all the time," Mira replied.

"Yeah let them blow off their steam. Even Gray enjoys it," Arima added. Indeed, while Gray had been standing next to Lucy, she looked over now to see that he was gone, leaving only his clothes in a pile.

"Well why don't the two of you participate?"

"Hmph. If I joined, there probably wouldn't be a guild hall anymore. I tend to take fights seriously. And Mira doesn't use magic anymore, she just runs the bar."

"Just remember that I could still beat you, if I started using my magic again," Mira said devilishly.

Arima scowled in response. "How about we change the topic now?"

Before a change of topic could be initiated however, a booming voice overtook the entire guild hall. "WILL YOU BRATS KEEP IT DOWN FOR MORE THAN 10 SECONDS? I CAN'T EVEN HEAR MYSELF THINK."

Lucy trembled as an enormous black shadow towered over her and the rest of the guild members.

The brawl stopped instantly.

"Oh hey Master," Mira said cheerfully. "We just got a new member."

'Master...' Lucy was starting to worry about whether joining Fairy Tail was really a good idea.

Slowly however, the giant black shadow shrunk, and shrunk, and shrunk, until it was a very short, elderly man, with white hair and a thick moustache. He stuck a hand out to Lucy in greeting.

"Well hello there," the master said. His voice was slightly gruff, but not unkind. "Welcome to Fairy Tail. My name is Master Makarov."

The master attempted a feat of acrobatics, flipping through the air, as he jumped towards the second floor balcony, only to hit his head on the railing. He got up quickly before clearing his throat. "Well you brats have done it again. Just look at the amount of paperwork the magic council sent me. I'm going to spend the rest of my life doing this if you all aren't more controlled. All you kids are good for is getting my superiors mad at me."

All the guild members except Gray and Arima had the courtesy to look chastened at the master's words. "That being said... I say screw the Magic Council." Saying so, Makarov incinerated the pile of papers that was in his hands. "Magic isn't some sort of miracle. It is a talent that works when the flow of energy inside of us, and the flow of energy in the natural world are in harmony. To be able to perform magic, you have to feel it in your very being, pouring out of your own soul. If we only ever worry about following the rules, then our magic will never progress. Follow the path you believe in, because that's what makes Fairy Tail NUMBER ONE!"

Lucy could only stare, dumbfounded at the sheer amount of energy radiating from the guild. The master held up his fist, thumb and pointer finger extended, and the rest of the guild echoed his

motions. Even Arima stood up and was smiling.

All was right within the guild.

* * *

A week later

Natsu walked towards the massive training arena. He had taken the few days that he had been back at the guild to take care of his personal business. He had also spent some time wandering the nearby area, thinking about his past, about his father.

It had been long enough since he'd spent his energy in a fight, so he hoped he could train with someone in the arena. Not that many of his fellow guild members would entertain him in battle. Natsu was by far the strongest regular member - one of three S-class wizards. And he wasn't known for showing restraint, even when having a friendly spar.

More than a few people had found themselves on the receiving end of his fist. It didn't take long for Natsu to notice that when he went to the arena, there would be a sudden lack of opponents, or all of them would have 'just finished training."

That being said, there were still a few who were brave enough, or stupid enough, to face Natsu. Primarily among these select members were the other two S-class wizards. One of them was there when Natsu arrived.

"You want to spar some Natsu?" asked a male voice. Natsu looked over to see a young man, several years older than he. He was tall, with broad shoulders, and he carried himself with grace. Spiky yellow hair matched the man's golden eyes, which were rapidly flicking around.

"Of course, Reiko," Natsu replied. The two then took their places, on opposite sides of the arena. The arena was essentially a large dome, with a totally flat interior that could be modified to simulate various terrains.

"I've gotten stronger Natsu. Don't think you'll be able to beat me so easily this time."

"I have no doubt that you've gotten stronger. I'd be disappointed if you hadn't. But whether or not, you'll be able to stand against me, that remains to be seen."

The two friends bowed to each other, before charging at each other. Reiko, a user of Storm Magic, immediately went on the offensive. "Blustering Gale," he called out, as the winds in the arena picked up.

Natsu smirked, and enveloped his fists in his signature white flames. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist." Reiko was forced to jump back as Natsu lunged at him. "You think a little breeze will stop me?" Natsu lunged at Reiko once again, forcing him to hastily scramble to the side.

"Don't get too cocky yet." Reiko released some more magical energy, and the winds picked up. Natsu was forced a step back as he faced a strong headwind. "Raging Tempest," yelled Reiko, and suddenly Natsu was sliding backwards.

He gritted his teeth as he struggled against the wind. With a yell, Natsu enveloped his body in ghostly white flames. Jumping up, Natsu connected a right hook into Reiko's stomach.

Reiko rolled, using the momentum from the punch to spring to his feet. His mouth filled with a metallic taste, and he spit out blood. "You're not Saitama. It'll take more than that to keep me down."

Suddenly Natsu was in front of him, flaming fist flashing towards him. Reiko felt his nose break on impact, as he was flung unceremoniously to one side of the arena. Scowling, he stood up and wiped the blood off his face.

Storm clouds began gathering around Natsu, dark and foreboding. Natsu for his part, simply watched Reiko, eyes narrowed in slits. With a yell, a blast of lightning came down from above, striking Natsu directly. He could feel the energy within the lightning, but he simply let it wash over him. He was confident he could outlast Reiko in a fight of stamina.

Natsu's assertion was proved true as Reiko collapsed to his knees and the electricity vanished. Shaking his limbs, Natsu enveloped his entire body in flames once again. "Eye of the..." began Reiko.

"Fire Dragon Roar."

Reiko's figure was lost in a torrent of blue and white. He screamed in pain. "Alright I surrender."

As quick as the pain had begun, it vanished. Reiko got to his feet. "You have got to tell me why your flames are like that. The wind didn't even seem to affect your magic at all."

Natsu winked at his friend. "Tricks of the trade, pal. Now where would the fun be if I revealed all my secrets?"

Reiko took a couple of steps and groaned. The blow he'd taken to the stomach was definitely going to bruise. All things considered, he got off lightly. Normally after sparring with Natsu, he would be covered in bruises and lacerations, and his entire body would be in acute pain. This time he only had a broken nose, and a few small bruises.

"How are you always so much stronger than me Natsu?" asked Reiko. "I could've sworn I got a lot stronger."

"You did get stronger," replied Natsu. "But so did I." Natsu sat down, and Reiko followed suit, slumping to the ground next to him.

"You want the honest answer?" asked Natsu.

"Yes."

"What's your reason for fighting? What drives you to get stronger?"

"Hmmm... I-I'm not really sure," said Reiko. He furrowed his brows as he tried to think of a suitable answer. "Maybe because I want to be the strongest."

"Well I can't answer that question for you. And until you figure out the answer for yourself, you can never get stronger." Saying so, Natsu stood up and walked away, leaving Reiko lying on the ground.

Natsu dusted off his clothes, which were slightly singed from the lightning. He glanced back at his friend, making sure he was alright. Seeing no cause for alarm, Natsu walked towards the exit of the arena.

He had almost left the building when Reiko called out to him. "Hey Natsu..."

Pausing and turning around, Natsu replied, "what?"

"Why do you fight then?"

"I get stronger so that I can one day find my father." Natsu smiled as he remembered the fond memories of his adoptive father, Igneel. The man, no, the dragon, who had taught him his magic, shaped him into who he was.

Natsu was already out of the building when he added as an afterthought, "if you see Syrena, tell her to find me. I have information that might interest her."

* * *

Lucy was slumped on one of the barstools, exhausted. Mira walked over to her, the ever present smile doing little to rouse Lucy from her stupor.

"How's it going?" Mira asked cheerfully. Lucy could only groan in response.

It would be an understatement to say that the past week had been hectic for Lucy. She had been running around non-stop, leaving her totally drained of energy and willpower.

Lucy had spent over an hour getting to know all the guild members. Among the sea of names a few had stuck out to her - Elfman, a very muscular male who had called her extremely manly before challenging her to an arm wrestling contest which Lucy had politely declined.

Then there was Cana, a girl her age who offered her an entire barrel of alcohol. Lucy had politely asked how many people were planning on drinking, to which Cana had replied that if Lucy joined her, it would be two.

Lucy had just met Loke, who had wasted no time trying to hit on her. After not-so-politely slapping him in the face for trying to grab her, Lucy had stalked off in disgust. That's when she ran into Romeo. A small boy of eight or nine years, he had complained to the Master that his father, a guild wizard named Macao, had been missing for over a week.

Despite the Master's many reassurances that Macao was more than capable of taking care of himself, she had found herself getting dragged off by Arima to go "investigate." Oh why did it have to be her of all people?

The two of them had gone to Mt. Hakobe to look for the missing wizard. Lucy would have loved to say she kicked some monster butt, but in reality she had spent the entire fight against the Vulcan hiding in one of her spirits, Horologium, while Arima relentlessly pounded the poor creature.

The two rescued Macao and brought him home to an ever so grateful Romeo, by which point night had fallen. To Lucy's chagrin, she had not found a place to stay, and had to settle for a room in Fairy Hills.

The next three days had been spent in a frantic rush around the city, searching for a place that wasn't derelict, but at the same time wouldn't bankrupt Lucy. It had taken her longer than she liked to admit, but she found a place she liked. By the riverside and only 70,000 jewel a month, it was perfect.

Until the next morning when she had been rudely awakened by Gray falling on her as he attempted to infiltrate through the window. All Lucy had wanted was a day of relaxation, but instead of that, she had been dragged off to infiltrate the Everlue mansion.

A short and eccentric man, Duke Everlue had tried to terminate the two Fairy Tail wizards. Despite not even getting the jewel reward in the end, the mission hadn't been a total bust in Lucy's eyes. She had procured another golden gate key, Virgo, the maiden.

Lucy had thought that would be enough excitement for a lifetime. She had come home and collapsed in bed. Only to again be rudely awakened by Gray. Lucy was at a loss for words. How had he managed to enter her apartment a second time? Instead she adopted for the simpler method of kicking him out.

Then finally she had managed to get one day to herself to relax. She had slept in and made her way leisurely to the guild hall. She had met the members of Team Shadow Gear, and instantly become friends with the short girl with blue hair and glasses, Levy.

Of course that meant a shopping trip was in order.

All in all, Lucy was exhausted but satisfied. Earlier that morning Loke had tried hitting on her again, but had run off when he realized that Lucy was a celestial mage. Afraid she had somehow offended him, Lucy talked to Mira, only to learn that Loke had a bad history with celestial mages.

Now here she was, slumped over the bar counter, trying not to fall asleep. Most of the other guild members were busy doing their own things, so she was finally able to get some needed peace and quiet.

Suddenly, a frantic Loke burst through the doors of the guild hall. Panting, he yelled out, "I've got bad news. It's Erza. She's coming back now."

The effect was instantaneous. Everyone fell silent. A moment later, pandemonium erupted in the guild hall as people began freaking out left and right. Even Gray and Arima who had been having an intense staring contest for the past 5 minutes looked panicked.

Lucy pulled her head up off the countertop. "Wow just mention Erza and the whole guild goes crazy," she muttered to herself.

Mira, who was standing close by, heard her. "Well Erza is the strongest female member we have. Not to mention that she's more than a little bit intimidating."

Lucy felt a shudder pass through her body. 'Well if her name scares both Gray and Arima, I don't really want to get on her bad side,' Lucy thought.

Footsteps were heard outside the guild hall, and a shadow slowly fell across the open doors. The sheer size of the shadow and the amount of noise coming from outside sent Lucy's mind into overdrive, trying to imagine what sort of demon Erza could be.

The whole guild was silent, mouths agape, as Erza Scarlet walked into the guild hall, dragging what had to be a massive horn behind her. Lucy was slightly surprised to see that Erza was not some demon. She was a girl who looked to be a year or two older than Lucy, wearing a steel breastplate with a red cross, and a short blue skirt. She had striking red hair, scarlet to be precise.

"W-W-What is that?" sputtered Gray apprehensively.

"It's the horn of a demon I slayed. The villagers were so grateful that they let me keep the horn as a souvenir."

Lucy paled slightly, imaging the monster Erza must have slain in order to get that horn. Then she paled further, imaging the monster Erza must be in order to have slain such a monster.

While Lucy was entrapped in her thoughts, Erza was going around chastising the scared guild members.

"Cana, stop drinking so much." Cana tried unsuccessfully to hide a barrel of booze behind her back.

"Vijeeter, take your dancing outside please. Wakaba, put that pipe away, it's bad for your health. Macao..." Macao's face blanched. He feared retribution for getting trapped in Mt. Hakobe. "I don't even know what to say. Just forget it." He let out a pent up breath.

Erza finally walked over to Arima and Gray. "I hope you two haven't been fighting," she said, eyeing the two boys.

"No. Not at all," the two said in unison. Though the moment she turned her back on them, the two went back to glaring daggers at each other.

"Good. I need to speak with the master, immediately," she commanded.

"The master's at a conference right now," Mira said, cheerful as always.

"In that case..." Erza turned her gaze towards Arima and Gray, causing the Arima to look uncomfortable, and causing Gray to shudder. "Gray. Arima. I want the two of you to come with me. There's trouble brewing and I need your help."

* * *

Natsu was back in Master Tantalus's office. While he had enjoyed his time back at the guild hall, he was itching to get back out. Hence the reason for his presence.

"So what's the mission this time Master?"

"Rumor has it that the Dark Guild Eisenwald has procured Lullaby. How those buffoons managed to find it is beyond me."

"So you want me to go steal it," Natsu interrupted.

"Yes and no," Master Tantalus said, glaring at Natsu. "As I was saying, Eisenwald has found Lullaby, and they have their own plans for the artifact. I would very much like that artifact to use for our own purposes. However, you will be working with the Eisenwald wizards."

Natsu frowned. Working with others wasn't necessarily his strong suit, he would rather just beat them up and take it.

"We can't afford to have a direct conflict with the Baram Alliance - we would be wiped out. That being said, do whatever you must in order to secure the package."

"Kill?" asked Natsu, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards.

"If you must."

"Well then. This will be fun." This time the smile that Natsu had been suppressing broke through. "When do I leave?"

Now it was the master's turn to smile. "There's a train leaving for Onibus in two hours."

There was little that could frighten Natsu. Transportation was one of the few things that could. Thus Master Tantalus was humored by the way Natsu's face fell into a scowl when he mentioned the train.

"And Natsu," the master added, his voice growing solemn.

"Yes?"

"It would be foolish to assume that the magic council won't be sending a few guild wizards of their own to intercept. Try not to get caught in a crossfire. The guild can't afford to lose you."

"Of course." Natsu's reply was equally solemn, and he turned around and left the office without another word.

As he left the guild hall, he nearly puked as he thought about the forthcoming train ride.

* * *

 **AN: Apology time. I said I would try to have updates out every 1-2 weeks. And now it's been more than three weeks since the first chapter. I didn't foresee myself falling sick and missing two weeks of classes. I had written about half the chapter, and it sat there unfinished for a couple of weeks while I tried to catch up on work. Fortunately, I'm feeling fine, and I'm all caught up.**

 **Sorry if this chapter seems a bit discontinuous, I wrote across so many sittings, over such a long time period that it may be a bit muddled. This is definitely not my best writing, but seeing how the chapter is mostly a few character introductions and setup for the Lullaby Arc, I'm not going to rewrite this ATM.**

 **I'm going on vacation next week, and might not be able to get a chapter out, but we'll see how it pans out. Either way I hope you guys enjoyed and don't forget to leave a review.**


	3. Conflict

**Conflict**

* * *

Lucy stood, waiting at platform ten of Magnolia's train station. Gray and Arima were standing next to her, surprisingly silent.

Now why was Lucy there in the first place? After all, Erza hadn't asked for her.

The answer to that question is Mira. "If Arima, Gray, and Erza go off on a mission together, chances are at least one of them doesn't come back alive. The three can't help but argue. Please go and make sure that doesn't happen."

Lucy had been rather disagreeable to the suggestion at first, but had agreed when Mira threatened to show off her demon side. Lucy did NOT want to know why Mira had received the moniker of 'The Demon.'

Erza had told the boys to be there at 3:00 PM sharp. Now it was 3:07, and everyone was there, save of course for Erza. Lucy had half a mind to chew her out for arriving late, but didn't think it would be the smartest career choice.

Instead she watched as the two boys stood side by side, smiles plastered neatly on their faces. They were definitely up to something. So far her experiences with the two of them together consisted of Arima taunting Gray for being weaker than him, and Gray struggling to come up with comebacks.

That made their silence and apparent camaraderie extra suspect. And that made Lucy worried. Whether it was because she might be the target of their plot, or she might end up inadvertently suffering Erza wrath after she fell victim, Lucy didn't know. Not like it mattered.

Lucy was by far the weakest out of the foursome. Sure, she was a celestial wizard, but Gray and Arima totally eclipsed her in power. And the way people treated Erza made her power seem inhuman, not that Lucy wanted to find out, if at all possible.

A few exclamations from all around drew Lucy's attention. 'Must be Erza,' she thought. Sure enough, from down the platform, Lucy could make out the bright red hair. The bright red hair belonged to a familiar girl in armor who was dragging along an enormous suitcase.

Lucy stared, dumbfounded. Enormous didn't even begin to describe the amount of luggage Erza had. The suitcases were piled up to more than twice the girl's height, and looked like it could easily fill up half an empty railcar.

The conductor was equally dumbfounded. "Surely madam you aren't planning on bringing all that luggage?"

"Of course I am," Erza declared proudly. "Why else would I have brought it with me?"

The conductor couldn't even from a response as Erza shoved suitcase after suitcase into the storage compartments. "Come on you guys. Stop dilly dallying. We have a mission to complete." Erza called out to the waiting trio, for even they had stood there, both amazed and perplexed at Erza's mountain of gear.

It didn't take them long to go stow the gear and climb aboard the train. They picked an empty compartment, and the four of them sat down. Fortunately, the train car was quite empty, and they could afford to have an open conversation.

"So what is your name?" Erza asked Lucy. "I believe I saw you at the guild hall yesterday."

"My name is Lucy. I just joined the guild a week ago. Mira told me to come along with you guys so I could get some experience."

"So you're the one who defeated a Vulcan using only your pinky finger." Lucy sweatdropped at these words. "It'll be great to have a wizard like you along. My name is Erza by the way."

"Not that I don't think introductions are nice and all..." interrupted Arima, "but do you mind filling us in Erza? I really don't want to be running in the dark here."

"Of course." Erza immediately adopted a serious tone. "I have reason to believe that the Dark Guild Eisenwald is planning something. I'm not sure exactly what they have in mind, but I know it has something to do with a magical item called Lullaby."

"Lullaby," echoed the other three. The name seemed foreign to them, and they racked their brains trying to recall if they had heard anything about it before.

"Let me explain. I was on my way back from a job, and on the way back I decided to stop at a wizard's bar in Onibas..."

A trio was seated around a table one of the far corners of the bar.

"Hey bartender, hurry up with those drinks would you," an angry man shouted at the bartender who was scrambling around.

"Chill out man. Try and relax a little would you," one of the man's companions replied.

"And how am I supposed to do that." The first man was nearly shouting at this point. "We finally found Lullaby, but we can't even go get it because of some stupid seal."

"Hey don't sweat it guys," the final member of the trio spoke up. "Just leave the seal to me. You guys just head on back to the guild. Tell Erigor I'll be back in three days with Lullaby.

"You sure about that Kage?" the other two asked uncertainly.

"Don't worry about me. I can handle it. Just give me three days."

None of them realized that Erza was carefully hanging onto every word of theirs.

Lucy spent a moment thinking over Erza's story. "What makes you so certain that their bad guys. Maybe they're just doing some job, right?"

"That's what I thought at first too," she replied. "I didn't think about it too much. Only later did recognize his name. I was such a fool that day. Shinigami Erigor. The ace of Eisenwald."

A shiver went down Gray's spine. "Erigor the Reaper."

"Yes," continued Erza. "He only accepts assassination requests."

"He kills for money?" Lucy was both aghast.

Arima picked up the story, "Eisenwald used to be a legal guild. Then when the council outlawed assassination, Eisenwald decided that they would rather have the money. In retaliation, the council disbanded the guild..."

"But they continue to be active this day. They're one of the more dangerous dark guilds out there," Erza finished. "I'm not foolish enough to try and take on a dark guild all by myself. That's why asked for you two, Gray and Arima."

"We're going to attack a dark guild? Just the four of us?" Lucy began to feel a little sick. "I'm not sure I'm cut out for this. Maybe I should just head back?"

Erza chose to ignore Lucy's latter comments. "Yes we'll storm Eisenwald by force. We'll make them give up Lullaby." There was the clash of steel on steel as she clenched her fist tightly.

"Sound like fun," said Arima with a grin.

Their musings were interrupted by the arrival of the food cart. The four of them bought some sandwiches and began chomping away.

The lull in the conversation allowed the four wizards to notice something they hadn't previously. From somewhere within the train carriage, an odd sound was being created. It sounded rather peculiar, like a low buzz or drone. It was such a sound that had been lost in their conversation, but was insistently bothersome, now that they could hear it.

"What is that sound?" Lucy was the first to comment on it, although from the expressions on the others' faces, it was obvious that they were getting annoyed by whatever they were hearing.

"I'll go check it out. The rest of you stay here," Erza commanded.

She got up and peeked her head out of the compartment. Seeing no one, she carefully proceeded down the aisle, trying to identify the source. All the compartments were empty, save for one close to the far end. That was where Erza the source of her irk.

Inside the compartment was an odd man. Erza was immediately struck by the toned muscles of his arms and chest. Then she saw the shock of salmon colored hair, and the long black waistcoat that was tied loosely at the man's waist. He appeared to be in severe pain as he was clutching his stomach tightly with both hands. The droning sound turned out to be the man groaning softly as he lay sprawled out on the ground.

"Excuse me. I don't mean to barge in, but are you feeling okay?" Erza asked. She waited for the salmon haired man to respond, but got only another groan. So of course she tried again. "Sir, is something bothering you?" Again, no response. "SIR, I DEMAND YOU TELL ME WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM."

Finally, the man seemed to respond to Erza's yelling. He rolled over weakly to look at her. She looked back at him, his dark eyes seemed to see into her soul. Erza frowned slightly as she gave an involuntary shudder, before straightening her face out again.

"Is there a reason you're lying on the ground there mister?"

"Train... evil... hate..." The man was barely able to spit out those few words, and Erza noticed that his entire face was covered in sweat.

"Do you want any help?" Erza looked genuinely concerned. "My friends and I are in a compartment down there," she said, pointing in the direction where her friends were still seated. "If you need any help, we're wizards, so we can definitely help you out."

"No... transportation... please... gone..." he rolled over again, and Erza scoffed and decided that she had wasted enough time trying to coax the unwilling passenger.

* * *

"So what was that all about?" Three expectant faces looked up at Erza expectantly as she slid the door to their compartment shut.

"Just a bad case of motion sickness." Her tone indicated that she would entertain no further questions on the topic.

Lucy felt that it was appropriate to change the topic of discussion. "So Erza, what kind of magic do you use?"

"I use requip magic. It allows me to adapt to whatever situation I may be in," she replied proudly.

"Erza's not just your average requip mage though," added Arima. "Most requip mages can only switch out their weapons. Erza however, is capable of changing armors as well. It gives her a massive advantage in most fights."

"Wow, that must be how you became the strongest member of the guild right?" asked Lucy, a little awestruck.

"Strongest mage?" Erza let out a little laugh. "I wouldn't go as far as to say that about myself. But as far versatility of magic goes, I think Gray takes the cake there."

"You mean like this?" asked Gray, as he fashioned the Fairy Tail emblem out of ice. It floated neatly above his open palm. Lucy had already seen Gray use his magic before, at Duke Everlue's mansion, but she was impressed by his control over it nonetheless.

"Yes maker magic definitely gives the user a lot of freedom," said Erza, laughing lightly.

"What about you Arima? I've seen you use your magic once before, but I don't what it is." Arima turned to look at Lucy, a smirk breaking out on his face.

"Well wouldn't you like to know? I'll tell you... some other time" He simply laughed while Lucy pouted.

The robotized voice of the train conductor announced that the train had arrived at the Onibus station. The four Fairy Tail wizards stood up and made their way out of the train. On the way out, Gray bumped into a tall man dressed in a white, high collared shirt, and a short black ponytail. "Hey watch it man."

"Sorry," mumbled the man, by way of apology. He said a few more words that Gray was barely able to catch.

Gray tried to catch Erza's attention. "Hey Erza-"

"Not now Gray. As I was saying, we should split up into two groups and try to figure out where the Eisenwald wizards went."

"But Erza, we might not have to-"

"Will you please stop interrupting me," Erza yelled and turned a withering gaze on Gray who cowered back slightly. "Now where were we..."

"I think they're on the train," Gray yelled out quickly before taking a hasty step backwards.

"Oh yes they might be on the train," said Erza calmly. "WAIT WHAT? Why didn't you say so earlier?" Gray had to suffer the full force of her glare, while Arima and Lucy could only watch with pitiful gazes.

Gray immediately went on the defense. "I tried to, but you wouldn't let me finish. The guy who walked past me said something about bringing back Lullaby. And Salamander. He definitely mentioned Salamander." Gray scowled.

"Hey I don't mean to interrupt," said Lucy timidly, "but isn't Salamander the guy you captured in Hargeon?"

Erza cursed loudly as she tried frantically to revise her plan of action. "Quick, we have to stop the train." She rushed over to the emergency stop lever and pulled it, ignoring the protests of the security guard next to her. "Sorry this is an absolute emergency. After them guys," she called out, racing towards the exit of the train station.

* * *

On the train

Kageyama had calmly boarded the train and began searching for the man he was supposed to meet on the train. Truth be told, Kageyama didn't know who 'Salamander' was, or what he looked like. All Erigor had told him was that he was to meet Salamander on the train after he boarded at Onibas station. From there, the two of them were to deliver Lullaby to Erigor, who was waiting at Clover station.

Kageyama didn't have to search for long before he found a pink haired man collapsed on the floor. He quickly ducked inside the compartment, wanting to make sure he found the right person.

"And you would be..." Kageyama asked the pink haired man, who showed no sign of wanting to respond.

Before Kageyama could repeat himself, the train ground to a sudden halt, throwing both men out of the compartment.

"Oh thank god that's over."

"What imbecile decided to stop the train? We have a tight deadline to meet." Kageyama picked himself up, and brushed off his clothes before turning to face the man he thought was Salamander. "You mind telling me who you are now? I really don't want to have to kill you. It'll take too much time. So if you're not the person I'm searching for, you can just piss off."

Much to his surprise, the man in front of him simply laughed, baring his unusually sharp canines. "I think you know exactly who I am," the man said, holding out his hand.

Despite the smile, when Kageyama looked into the man's eyes, he saw that they appeared as cold and hard as steel. A little uncertainly, he grasped the proffered hand in a firm handshake.

"Excellent," said Natsu. "I hope you weren't serious about trying to kill me though. It would be a bother to dispose of your body." As he spoke, he increased the pressure on the handshake. Slowly, Kageyama felt his joints began to crack, and a burning sensation enveloped his hand.

Wincing, he hastily withdrew his hand, eliciting another smile from Natsu. "Sorry, I didn't mean to burn you." Kageyama turned to meet Natsu's gaze again. If the man's rapidly expanding aura was anything to judge by, this Salamander was definitely not one to be trifled with.

Just then, a voice came over the loudspeaker. "Our stop was merely a false alarm. We will resume our journey shortly.

Natsu paled ever so slightly, and hastily took a seat. "I hate this damn train." He resigned himself to spending another several hours in intense pain as his stomach waged war on the rest of his body.

Once the train had picked up again, Natsu's intimidating persona had dissolved. In Salamander's wake, was left poor old Natsu, sick to the stomach. Kageyama was quick to notice this fact, and he laughed about it - silently of course. He was not foolish enough to try and yank the tiger's paw, so to speak.

Fortunately for Natsu, the several hours he had been expected turned out to be less than half an hour. As the train grinded slowly to a halt, wheels screeching loudly, Kageyama gave a little start. He wasn't supposed to meet up with Erigor until Oshibana station. He estimated that they were maybe half way there.

Kageyama's worry appeared to be founded, as the door suddenly flew off it's hinges and went crashing to one side, splinters of wood poking out weakly. Kageyama's frown quickly reversed however, as a tall, shirtless man strode into the carriage. He had a shock of white hair, and carried a long scythe, which he held loosely.

"This train is now the property of Eisenwald."

"Hey Erigor. Long time no see." Kageyama leaned back in his seat casually as he tried in vain, to play cool.

"Ah. Kageyama. I heard rumors that you would be returning on this train," Erigor said with a smile. A smile that lasted until he saw the person sitting across from Kageyama. Natsu appeared to have recovered, and was now staring intensely at Erigor. "Natsu 'Salamander' Dragneel. A pleasure to meet you." He couldn't have possibly spoken more sarcastically.

"Likewise Shinigami Erigor." Kageyama could see the hatred oozing off of both men in waves. While each may have respected the other purely in terms of combat skill, Natsu considered Erigor to be rather tactless and a brash. Erigor on the other hand saw Natsu as rather soft. Despite both being members of dark guilds, there tended to be strong rivalry between dark guilds and their various members.

Kageyama intervened before any physical conflict could erupt, and although both men continued to shoot murderous looks towards the other, they both listened to what Kageyama had to say. "I've finally managed to break the seal on Lullaby," he claimed, pulling the ghastly flute from within the recesses of his coat."

"Excellent. It is certainly an excellent specimen," Erigor proclaimed, taking Lullaby to examine all of its facets. "The guild master's are still busy at their convention. They won't even know what hit them."

Kageyama ran a hand nervously through his hair. "As I was boarding the train, I saw some Fairy Tail wizards leaving. I overheard them talking about Lullaby as well."

SHHHNK. Kageyama nearly jumped a mile as the half of the seat next to him toppled over. He hadn't even seen Erigor move his scythe at all, but the proof was in the pudding.

"Those DAMN flies. How did they figure out about Lullaby."

"Oh good." Natsu smirked. "Those pesky flies might turn out to make this mission somewhat interesting." Erigor roared and turned his scythe on Natsu, only to have him calmly sway to one side to avoid the razor sharp blade.

"He-heh. Good thing we have that back up plan, right?" Kageyama asked with trepidation in his voice.

Erigor nodded in response. "We'll wait for those flies at Oshibana station. They must be dealt with. That's your job." He turned to look at Natsu.

"I've never been called in on a job to be an exterminator before. But... I think I can be accommodating." Another devilish smirk followed.

"Very well men. We'll proceed to Oshibana station as planned."

* * *

The four fairy tail wizards were stopped on a hill overlooking Kunugi station. There was a growing crowd outside the station, and uniformed police made sure that no one could enter the station. Or what was left of the station anyways.

"It appears that Eisenwald has hijacked the train," spoke Erza.

"Why would they want to steal a train anyways?" asked Lucy. "It might be fast, but I wouldn't consider it to be the best getaway vehicle."

"They certainly are limited to following the track," Arima chimed in. "That's makes our job that much easier I suppose."

"Still something about this whole situation doesn't sit right with me. It makes no logical sense for them to take the train unless... SHIT." Erza swore loudly and immediately revved the engine of the magic mobile they were sitting in.

The other three had barely enough time to scramble back inside, before they were off like a rocket. "Slow down Erza," Gray called out loudly, fighting to be heard over the roar of wind given the speed they were traveling at. "You'll run out of magic power before we even get to Lullaby."

"Sorry I have no choice. I just remembered what Lullaby is. It's death magic. A lot more hangs in the balance than we thought. Besides I have you, Arima, and Lucy."

"You know. Or you could just let me drive for a bit. Certainly wouldn't kill you." Arima bit his lip as he waited for Erza's response.

"Remember the last time I let you drive?"

"Hey, I almost got us killed ONLY once. You can't bring up that incident every time. You haven't ever let me drive since then."

"Because I value my life. I think Gray will agree with me on that one, right?" Gray loudly affirmed that he agreed with Erza. He couldn't withstand Arima's death glare, but he didn't want to risk Erza's wrath.

* * *

It wasn't long before Oshibana station came into sight. Just like at Kunugi, there was a massive crowd complaining loudly as the royal guard barred the way into the station. The station master eventually came out with a megaphone.

"We apologize for the inconvenience, but Oshibana station is currently closed. There has been an incident with a derailed train inside, and we appreciate your cooperation in this matter. Trains should resume as normal tomorrow morning."

Erza pulled the magic mobile strap off her arm and stood up. She was sweating slightly, and her arm was shaking imperceptibly. The breakneck pace she had maintained had clearly taken its toll on her. She had no doubt that her reserves of magic would fill up again within a few hours. All she had to do was not overextend in this fight.

Of course that meant that the first thing she did was run down to where the guards were stationed, trying to figure out what was going on.

As pointed out by Lucy, her methods of discovering information were rather counterproductive. Any guard who didn't answer her questions fast enough for her liking, got an unexpected introduction to her armored fist. And per her unreasonable expectations, there was rather large trail of unfortunate guards left in her wake.

No sooner than Lucy had been about to speak up and ask Gray and Arima whether they should try and stop Erza, than she came running back to them, panting ever so slightly.

"Eisenwald is inside. Let's go."

After seeing the absolute terror the red haired woman had created, the rest of the royal guards were far more inclined to let her and the rest of her entourage pass through unencumbered.

Scrambling into the station, they found the wreck of the train they had been riding a few hours prior. In front of the train, 50 or so people had gathered together.

"Eisenwald," snarled Erza.

"So glad you could join us, little fairies." Floating roughly four feet off the ground was a white haired man. Next to him stood a tall, pink haired man. Both Erza and Gray recognized him, though neither knew who he was. Next to Natsu stood the dark haired man that Gray had accidentally bumped into.

"Hey I recognize you."

"The name's Kageyama. Pleased to make your acquaintance," he said with an exaggerated bow.

"Erigor." Arima had, on one prior occasion, had a slight altercation with Erigor. Needless to say, it hadn't necessarily gone in his favor, and Arima had been lucky to escape alive. The taste of defeat returned, and he felt bitter. "He's mine."

"Ooh. Based on the anger on your face, I should know you. Please don't be insulted that I have absolutely no fucking clue who you are." Erigor only laughed as Arima scowled. He looked ready to pounce at the wind mage, but managed to restrain himself.

'I'm the guy you tried to kill three years ago."

"Oh yes. That does ring a bell." Gone was Erigor's smile. Instead he scowled and his scythe whispered its death song as he twirled it in his hands. "The one that got away. I won't let it happen again."

"And you would be..." Erza asked.

"I remember you. You ran into me in Hargeon," Gray added.

"The name's Natsu. Natsu Dragneel. At your service m'lady." He, like Kageyama, chose to bow as well. Then, almost as an afterthought he added, "I have been called Salamander before."

Erza took a sharp breath. "You? You're him."

Natsu cackled in response. "Don't look the part do I?"

"What do you want with Lullaby?"

Erigor had grown increasingly frustrated with the increasing amount of talking and the increasing lack of fighting. "If you want to find out, you'll have to catch us first. Get them boys." Then he turned to Natsu. "Change of plan. The two of us are going to Clover by ourselves." Natsu looked disappointed, but had the sense not to argue at that moment.

"Oh no, you aren't getting away that easily," yelled a furious Erza. "Gray, Arima, Lucy, take care of these guys. I'm going to go get Lullaby back."

"Yes ma'am."

She requipped into her heaven's wheel armor, and vaulted over the rest of the Eisenwald members. She turned down the same hall that she had seen Natsu and Erigor go down. It wasn't ideal, having to split up like they had, but she had no other option. Erigor simply couldn't be allowed to make use of Lullaby. So, ignoring the fact that she was already tired from driving for so long, she tore after the two dark wizards at a full sprint.

She quickly realized that they had gone towards the rear exit from the station. Pushing herself even harder, she managed to catch sight of the two fleeing wizards right outside the station.

"Stop right there. I demand you tell me what you plan to do with Lullaby and then return it. Immediately."

Natsu and Erigor turned around to look at her.

"As entertaining as it might be to see you try and take both of us on at the same time, we are in a bit of a rush, so I'll have to pass up on your offer. After all, the guild master's meeting won't last much longer."

As she processed Erigor's words, Erza felt, pure, unadulterated rage fill her body. "YOU WOULDN'T FUCKING DARE." She launched a couple of swords at Erigor, only to have him bat them away carelessly.

"Catch you around later. Or perhaps not. WIND WALL." Erza had launched herself at the duo, only to find herself bouncing off an obstacle that had mysteriously appeared. She cursed loudly and pounded on the wall, but it was a futile attempt. She decided she would have to meet up with her comrades and find a way out of the trap that they had fallen into.

* * *

By the time Erza had returned to her comrades, there were a large pile of bodies lying on the ground. All of them were Eisenwald members. Gray and Arima stood there proudly with stupid grins plastered on their faces - as if they'd just won an Olympic medal. Lucy on the other hand was a mix of frightened, shocked, and confused.

"Erigor and Natsu managed to escape. Erigor has erected some sort of wind barrier. We need to find a way to break through it somehow."

"Brute force?" suggested Arima.

"Already tried that. Damn that Erigor. There must be someone here who can break it."

"Hey Lucy," said Gray, "don't you have that new spirit."

She looked at him quizzically for a moment, before understanding what Gray was suggesting. "Oh right. I totally forgot that I got Virgo. She could probably dig us out of here." The her face fell. "Only, I haven't made a contract with her yet. Still worth a shot though."

The four Fairy Tail wizards retraced their steps, going back to where they had entered the station. The wind wall was surrounding the entire station, and it stretched upwards for as far as the eye could see.

"Alright here goes nothing. I call upon thee, pass through the realms. Open the Gate of the Virgin, Virgo!"

"What can I do for you princess?" A girl with magenta hair, wearing a maid's uniform appeared.

"I know we haven't officially made a contract yet, but would you mind digging us out of here?"

"Of course, princess."

It was a matter of moments before Virgo had dug them out of the wind barrier. Now they stood on the other side, near where they had left the magic mobile.

"Erza you look like you're about to drop dead. I'm driving now," Arima insisted. Indeed Erza was looking quite pale. She looked like she wanted to argue, but the others convinced her to relax for a bit, to which she agreed.

"Fine then Arima. If you insist, I'll allow you to drive for once..." Erza couldn't resist getting in the last word. "But stop dilly dallying, and let's get going. I heard Erigor say that they were going after the guild masters. They're at the convention in Clover city. We have to intercept them before they can make it there."

Unbeknownst to the four wizards, Kageyama had also managed to sneak out of the barrier through the same tunnel that Virgo had carved. He had been knocked out earlier by a giant bull, and he wanted revenge on the blond bimbo. He would follow them, and make sure that Erigor would succeed.

* * *

Erigor and Natsu were walking along the rails across a large ravine. Or rather, Natsu was walking, and Erigor was flying. Making the wind barrier had left him drained, but now he was starting to recover his magic; at least to point where he could fly again, seeing as how it was his preferred method of transport.

Erigor was revelling in his victory. His wind barrier would last for another hour or so, by which point he and Natsu would have already gotten to Clover city. At this point no one could stop him. He would finally have his vengeance on the people who made him an outlaw.

"You know, I really wish you had let me fight them," said Natsu. "You're such a spoilsport."

Erigor growled back at him. He had enjoyed the terse silence the two had maintained up until that point. "Yes, but the whole point was to leave them trapped there. They're not escaping anytime soon, so leaving you there served no purpose. Makes far more sense for you to be out here, just in case."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"I'm not asking you to like it. I'm asking you to shut up, and just do as I say."

"Alright bossman. No need to get your panties in a knot." Erigor growled again. Salamander had a unique talent at pissing him off. Not that it was that hard, but he apparently knew exactly what would cause him to tick. Erigor was considering another retort when he was almost knocked out of the air by a shard of ice.

"Hey douchebags. Where do you think you're going?"

The two dark wizards spun around, Natsu with a smile, and Erigor with a frown. It shouldn't have been possible, but the four Fairy Tail wizards stood at the other end of the ravine. It didn't take Erigor long to put two and two together after seeing the magic mobile they had clearly ridden.

"Arghh. Pesky flies. How did you escape my wind barrier?"

"Courtesy of Lucy over here," said Erza, causing Lucy to yelp.

"Don't make him mad at me," she squealed.

The two groups squared off against one another. Erza, Gray, and Arima stood in a line, arms twitching, eyes narrowed, waiting for a fight. Lucy on the other hand was hiding behind their vehicle. On the other side, both Natsu and Erigor adopted battle stances as well.

"You were complaining how you didn't get to fight anyone, Salamander. Well it looks like now's your time to exterminate some pests."

"Excellent."

The party was just about to begin.

* * *

 **I'm really bad at maintaining a schedule, aren't I? The next chapter will take us to the end of this arc, and hopefully I'll have it out before another 3 weeks pass.**

* * *

 **Q: What is Arima's magic?**

 _You'll have to wait till the next chapter to find out. Don't worry it's intentional._

 **On another note, this fic already has over 40 followers, which totally blows me away. So to each and every one of you who has followed or favorited (or both), thank you. And to everyone so far who has left a review, I appreciate it a lot.**

 **I have considered putting out shorter chapters (maybe half the length or around 3k words) which would allow me to update quicker, but I'm not too sure if I want to as it interrupts my flow. Let me know what you guys think. Also feel free to leave any story suggestions in review or just PM me, and I'll try and respond.**

 **Hope you enjoyed~~**

 **Let's try and get some more reviews k? ~~**


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